Title

Amazon Linux 2023 must enforce a delay of at least four seconds between logon prompts following a failed logon attempt. (Cat II impact)

Discussion

Increasing the time between a failed authentication attempt and re-prompting to enter credentials helps to slow a single-threaded brute force attack.

Check Content

Verify Amazon Linux 2023 enforces a delay of at least four seconds between console logon prompts following a failed logon attempt with the following command: $ sudo grep -i fail_delay /etc/login.defs FAIL_DELAY 4 If the value of "FAIL_DELAY" is not set to "4" or greater, the line is commented out, or the line is missing, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Configure Amazon Linux 2023 to enforce a delay of at least four seconds between logon prompts following a failed console logon attempt. Modify the "/etc/login.defs" file to set the "FAIL_DELAY" parameter to "4" or greater: FAIL_DELAY 4

Additional Identifiers

Rule ID: SV-274144r1120420_rule

Vulnerability ID: V-274144

Group Title: SRG-OS-000480-GPOS-00226

Expert Comments

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